GAZA CITY/RAMALLAH, 14 August 2007 — Israeli President Shimon Peres yesterday proposed a plan to release all Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails subject to the security performance of the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli President Shimon Peres yesterday proposed a new plan to go ahead in the political process with the Palestinian Authority, based on releasing all the Palestinian prisoners held in the Israeli jails in return for a comprehensive cease-fire agreement, Israeli media sources said.
According to a report by the right-wing Israeli daily Ma’ariv, Peres presented a timeframe of five years for the staggered release of the prisoners. In exchange, Palestinian combatants would commit to the cessation of all military operations against Israeli targets.
However, Israeli sources said that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other political leaders immediately rejected the proposal. Under the heading “prisoners for security,” Ma’ariv said the plan would be a pivotal deal between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
According to the plan, if the PA succeeds in implementing Israeli security demands within five years, Israel will release all Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails. The proposal suggests that 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are released each year after the signing of the deal. There are an estimated 11,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, a number which is increased daily by detention of Palestinians by Israeli forces.
Peres said publicly that his proposal surpasses that of Olmert, who suggested last week that Israel surrenders parts of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority. Peres maintains that it is pointless to transfer territory to the PA at this time as Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad admitted that the Palestinian security services are not able to handle Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, seven Israeli workers were lightly injured yesterday in an explosion that occurred shortly before noon at the Makhteshim Chemical Works factory in the Ramat Hovav industrial zone in the Negev Desert south of Israel.
According to Israeli police sources, the explosion damaged a tank containing organophosphorus compounds used in the production of insecticides, sending a cloud of phosphoric acid — considered toxic and extremely hazardous — into the air.
